Large Sample Properties of Matching Estimators for Average Treatment Effects

Matching estimators for average treatment effects are widely used in evaluation research despite the fact that their large sample properties have not been established in many cases. The absence of formal results in this area may be partly due to the fact that standard asymptotic expansions do not apply to matching estimators with a fixed number of matches because such estimators are highly nonsmooth functionals of the data. In this article we develop new methods for analyzing the large sample properties of matching estimators and establish a number of new results. We focus on matching with replacement with a fixed number of matches. First, we show that matching estimators are not N^1/2‐consistent in general and describe conditions under which matching estimators do attain N^1/2‐consistency. Second, we show that even in settings where matching estimators are N^1/2‐consistent, simple matching estimators with a fixed number of matches do not attain the semiparametric efficiency bound. Third, we provide a consistent estimator for the large sample variance that does not require consistent nonparametric estimation of unknown functions. Software for implementing these methods is available in Matlab, Stata, and R.     

Risk Analysis for Biological Hazards: What We Need to Know about Invasive Species

Risk analysis for biological invasions is similar to other types of natural and human hazards. For example, risk analysis for chemical spills requires the evaluation of basic information on where a spill occurs; exposure level and toxicity of the chemical agent; knowledge of the physical processes involved in its rate and direction of spread; and potential impacts to the environment, economy, and human health relative to containment costs. Unlike typical chemical spills, biological invasions can have long lag times from introduction and establishment to successful invasion, they reproduce, and they can spread rapidly by physical and biological processes. We use a risk analysis framework to suggest a general strategy for risk analysis for invasive species and invaded habitats. It requires: (1) problem formation (scoping the problem, defining assessment endpoints); (2) analysis (information on species traits, matching species traits to suitable habitats, estimating exposure, surveys of current distribution and abundance); (3) risk characterization (understanding of data completeness, estimates of the "potential" distribution and abundance; estimates of the potential rate of spread; and probable risks, impacts, and costs); and (4) risk management (containment potential, costs, and opportunity costs; legal mandates and social considerations and information science and technology needs).     

Exploring EAP Credentialing

No abstract available for this article.     

The Impact of Neighborhood Factors on Mental Health and Academic Outcomes for Adolescents Participating in the Prodigy Program

The Prodigy Cultural Arts program provides art classes embedded with three types of self-regulation skills (problem solving, social skills, and anger management) in an after school community setting to at-risk youths. Empirical evidence supports the effectiveness of self-regulation skills programs and the arts in programs for at-risk youths, yet the impact of the environment on the youth participants is often ignored. This study examines neighborhood structural characteristics along with previously identified individual, mental health variables in school outcomes for adolescents attending the Prodigy Program. Findings suggest that neighborhood structural characteristics have some influence in program outcomes. Limitations of the study and future research are discussed.     

Measuring student outcomes: An assessment of service-learning in the public relations campaigns course

This study assesses the effectiveness of service-learning in the public relations capstone course by measuring perceived student learning outcomes. An assessment instrument is proposed and tested via a longitudinal survey of students (n = 210) enrolled in the public relations capstone course at a large southeastern university. Results support a general service-learning assessment instrument for public relations education that includes measures of practical skills, interpersonal skills, personal responsibility, and citizenship, as well as discipline-specific functional, creative, and research skills.     

Outcomes Measurement

SUMMARY

Outcomes measurement in health and mental health should be of vital concern to social workers since public support and financing will follow evidence of effectiveness. Social work in health and mental health requires a framework for conceptualizing outcomes measurement so that the profession can focus clearly on the work to be done in outcomes measurement. This framework should distinguish among the various ways that outcomes measurement can be used to advance policy, program and practice. This article discusses two applications of outcomes measurement, namely for improving policies and programs, and, second, for conducting outcomes research. Other dimensions that could be included in an outcomes measurement framework for social work in health and mental health are identified but not elaborated. The author's objective is to make a strong case for the role that outcomes measurement can play in both the improvement of social work policies and programs in health care, through performance measurement, as well as in advancing the healthcare knowledge base, through outcomes research.     

拓展训练在培训党员发展对象中的应用

基于心理行为训练作为素质拓展训练的一种行之有效的训练方式,可应用到高校学生党员培训工作之中,采用问卷调查、素质拓展训练相结合的方法,探讨拓展训练对提升学生党员发展对象团队精神、发挥先锋模范作用的效果,以期为高校学生党员入党前培训提供可行性方法。     

提升"文化势能",促进文艺的民族化与现代化

＂文化势能＂主要由文化的历史积淀程度、文化的拥有人群数量、文化发展的时代水平三方面构成的,文艺的发展往往是在不同的＂文化势能＂的碰撞和交融的过程中实现的,21世纪文艺能否繁荣并占据世界文化发展的前沿,大力提升＂文化势能＂促进文艺的民族化、现代化具有重要的意义。     

The Timing of Family Instability and Children’s Social Development

This study extends the growing literature of family instability by investigating the significance of its timing for children’s social adjustment. We find that more than a third of the 1,364 elementary school children in the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development experienced some family structure change. Their cumulative level of family instability was associated with multiple indicators of social development at the end of elementary school, associations that were especially strong for boys. These associations were driven largely by the lasting effect of family change in early childhood, demonstrating the significance of early family instability for children’s later social development.     

论共产党员发挥先锋模范作用的势能

势能是物理学概念,本意是指由于各物体间存在相互作用而具有的由各物体间相对位置决定的状态量.它是储存于一个系统内的能量,也可以释放或者转化为其他形式的能量.文章借用这一定义,从系统视角分析、审视当前共产党员发挥先锋模范作用存在的主要问题,指出当务之急是健全完善四大支持系统,即:组织系统、教育系统、社会环境系统以及评价系统,从而完善共产党员先锋模范作用发挥的势能建构.